Norwegian Fastelavn buns

Photo: tine.no

On Sunday, people all over Norway will bake delicious buns called Fastelavn buns. Fastelavn is an old Nordic Christian tradition that marks the beginning of the forty days of fast before Easter. Today most Norwegians continue with their normal diet until Easter, but the tradition of making buns with whipped cream filling is still strong. Try the recipe here!

Ingredients:

50 gram yeast

3 ½ dl milk

100 gram butter

100 gram sugar

500 gram all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon cardamom

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon baking soda

Filling:

3 dl whipping cream

2 ts vanilla sugar

1 dl jam

To sprinkle on top:

1 dl icing sugar

What to do:

1. Melt the butter. When the temperature of the butter is lukewarm, pour in the milk and heat up to 37°C. Put the yeast into a baking bowl, and mix it with the milk and butter.

2. Mix in the sugar, flour, cardamom, salt and baking soda. Knead the dough until it is soft and airy. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough rest for about 30 minutes, until it doubles in size.

3. When the dough has rested, put it on the bench and separate it into 16 pieces. Make buns of the pieces. Put the buns on a baking tray and let it rest under a cloth for 30 minutes more.

4. Put the buns in the middle of the oven on 225°C for 8-10 minutes.

5. Whip the cream together with vanilla sugar. When the buns have cooled down, cut them in half and fill them with whipped cream. Spread some icing sugar on top.